Japan has such a long history spanning thousands of years. It is thought that the first inhabitants of the islands were fisherman and hunter/gatherers – this early stage in Japan’s history was known as the Jomon period.
In 300 BC invaders came from the Korean Peninsula, (the start of the Yayoi period) and slowly cultivated the land, introducing agriculture, iron and the evolution of social classes. The islands became a united country around 300-538 BC in the Kofun period where the central power was developed on the Kinai plain.
By 538-710AD (the Asuka period), influence from the mainland was increasing and by 700 AD civilisation has reached its peak. Nara was named as the country’s capital. The placement of the capital city shifted over the next hundred years to Nagaoka and then to Hein Kyo (Kyoto) during the Heian period where it settled for the next thousand years.
The period from the 12th Century through the 19th Century is known as “the feudal period”. It was a time where an emperor had no real control; instead powerful families (daimyo) and military groups (shogun) ruled the country. During the Muromachi period (1336 – 1573) the last shogun was forced out of the capital (Kyoto), and by 1600 (Azuchi-Momoyama period) Japan was once again united and its military power grew.
A time began where ships from Europe arrived in Japan laden with trade and missionaries. Early in the 17th Century, Japan’s rulers, worried about the influence the Europeans were having, forced all foreigners to leave the country and pulled Japan into a period of seclusion – closing it down to the rest of the world. It remained isolated for the next 200 years.
The end of the seclusion came in 1843 under force from the United States of America. From this time, Japan gradually began to open its doors once again – and became more confident; so confident in fact that it wanted to be a bigger, stronger nation – resulting in war with its neighbours China and Russia in a bid to increase its lands.
Over the last century we have seen a huge amount of change in Japan; over time becoming more powerful as a nation, building relationships up with the West and sharing in economic, technological and environmental issues and progress with the rest of the world.